Novelist Vendela Vida Immortalized in Indie Rock Song

While visiting one of his favorite music blogs, this GalleyCat editor uncovered a Dinosaur Feathers tune entitled “Vendela Vida.”

The song appeared to be named after Vendela Vida (pictured, via 2003 E.D.L.M.), the novelist, screenwriter, and journalist who is married to Dave Eggers (as we noted last year, the couple also co-wrote a film together). Intrigued, GalleyCat caught up with Greg from Dinosaur Feathers to find out why a tropical/surf/pop band would dedicate a whole song to Vida.

Here is his reply: “The song indeed was named after Vendela Vida the author, although it’s not about her. I actually intended to call the song Chinatown, after the movie–a lyric in the pre-chorus. We started calling it Vendela Vida out of laziness I guess–because it’s the first lyric basically. When I wrote the song, I had just seen her do a reading of one of her short stories at a benefit for 826NYC. So, the lyric at the beginning was informed partially by that reading.”

I got Vendela Vida
You got Boris in tow
She only comes when I read her
You only come when I go
I got a past and a future
You’re working on your present tense
And while I examined the sutures
You were mending your fence
And I have got the cross to bear for your confusion
Dreamers always end up back in Chinatown
And if you really, really, really are connected to the things that you believe
Well, to finally write your story is to let a thousand other stories bleed
And if you go, well you know, you got nothing to hold on to, but wait, it gets worse
It’s a gift, it’s a curse I got a past and a future Youâ€™re working on your present tense
And while I examine the sutures You were mending your fence
We can’t find any peace when we sleep
We try, but as soon as we’re down and we close our eyes, we cannot help it…
We’re dreamers We’re dreamers

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